Sunday May 13th

May 13^th 2012

The Building of the Temple

Today's reading is all about the building of the temple in Jerusalem. He has a friendly relationship with his neighboring people now because God has conquered their hearts, so he asks King Hiram of Tyre to supply him with materials and skilled workers, and then the construction begins. The temple has a specific layout, and is made of specific materials. After the initial layout was finished, Huram the artisan was brought in to do the brass work for the temple. Huram builds a number of beautiful brass things, and Solomon made all the furnishings, mostly made of gold.

Because today is Mother's Day, I was thinking about my mom while I was reading this, and noticed a nice, cliched parallel between Solomon's making of the temple for God, and my mother's making a home for me. King David was the one who originally drew up the plans for the temple, just as parents get their parenting plans from their own parents. King Solomon has a neighbor help him build his temple, just as parent's have friends and neighbors who help raise their children, whether it be babysitting the child or even moral support for the parents. The building of the structure for the temple is like parents giving their children structure at home, a stable place to love and be loved. Huram's building of the brass structures is like parent's providing necessities for their children-food, clothes, baths, etc. And finally, Solomon's furnishings are like all of the special things parents do for their children, like little notes in lunch boxes, or the making of a favorite meal.

Just like parents love their children, God loves us. God gives us a different kind of security and a different kind of help and support. We could also see this building of the temple from the child's point of view. The temple is King Solomon's place to worship the Lord, it's his way of giving back to God, just as on Mother's Day, children often get their parent's gifts, or do special things for them. Mother's Day is a child's way of saying, "Hey thank's Mom!"

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Gina

*Just a note, I kept using 'parents' instead of 'mothers' because I believe Mother's Day should also include single dad's